A new bill will allow a person to be tried and convicted of a criminal offence without seeing all the information relied on by the Crown and without the right to be present, the NZ Law Society says.

Law firm boosts productivity thanks to Netflix
A law firm has used a growing innovation to boost the productivity of its lawyers. British firm Ashton KCJ says it was inspired by companies such as Netflix and Virgin to introduce unlimited leave for its lawyers. Initially a nine-month trial the firm is now making it a permanent policy. Although it has not given exact details of the improved productivity the firm says that the move away from focusing on how many days holiday a lawyer has taken and looking instead at how productive those members of staff are has worked.

International expansion for Olswang

London-headquartered TMT-focused law firm Olswang has announced its entry into the Singapore legal market through a non-exclusive alliance. The firm’s Singapore-based Asia office and local law firm Holborn will work in association with each other, enabling the international firm to refer clients to the local specialists where appropriate while providing the Singapore firm greater access to international legal services.

Japanese law firm goes global with alliance group
Japanese law firm Spring Partners has joined the global law and accounting alliance Alliott Group. The move will enable the Toyko firm to access a resource base across 70 countries while providing the network with a law firm in one of the world’s leading economies. Spring Partners is a medium-sized law firm which advises on company commercial law and corporate finance, corporate regulatory compliance, business reorganisation and dispute resolution.

Bar chief questions regulatory reforms
The incoming chair of the Bar in the UK says she is not convinced that the time is right to change the system of regulation for the country’s legal profession. The British government is considering splitting regulation from representation in a bid to protect consumers but at a speech at the Inner Bar on Monday Chantal-Aimée Doerries QC said that as the current regulatory arrangements were only introduced in 2007 it is perhaps not the right time to be considering changes.